Australia’s shortest Victoria Cross recipient remembered by his family as a humble hero

James Woods was not the tallest of men — far from it, in fact.

At about 160 centimetres — or 5 foot, 3 inches tall in imperial measurements — Mr Woods was relatively short in anyone’s language.

But then, as his grandson Michael Gibbs points out, height and stature are not one and the same.

“He was also a private, and not many privates in the army earned a VC … so he had those two distinguishing features.”

Only 64 Australian soldiers were awarded VCs during World War I, and Mr Woods…